{"id":53828,"date":"2020-02-26T06:00:47","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T19:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=53828"},"modified":"2020-02-26T11:29:07","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T00:29:07","slug":"why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Australia needs a long-range air defence capability"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s time for the Royal Australian Air Force to consider how it can build the capability to defend Australia against the long-range, very high-speed threats being developed in our region.<\/p>\n

The RAAF\u2019s F-35A fighters should achieve final operational capability around 2023 and remain in service into the 2040s. A key task for Defence now is to build the long-range air defence system necessary to balance China\u2019s growing standoff warfare capability.<\/p>\n

Battle of Britain\u2013style dogfights between fighter aircraft have long given way to beyond-visual-range engagements, in which stealth, electronic warfare and sensor capabilities are paramount. The F-35A is well equipped for air defence beyond the visual, but lacks<\/a> the range and payload necessary to stay long in a fight. Yet long-range air defence is becoming even more important in the face of emerging standoff missile threats.<\/p>\n

China deployed<\/a> its H-6K bomber onto Woody Island in the South China Sea in 2018. From there it has the range to deliver land-attack and anti-ship cruise missiles against targets across Australia\u2019s north. China is also developing<\/a> an air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM<\/a>). Artwork recently appeared in a government-run Chinese military journal of an H-6N bomber carrying<\/a> what appeared to be an ALBM based on a DF-15 ballistic missile. Later, communist party mouthpiece the Global Times<\/em> downplay<\/a>ed the story. China\u2019s development of new long-range strike aircraft, including the H-20<\/a> stealth bomber and its rumoured \u2018J\/H-XX\u2019<\/a> counterpart, would add to a complex threat environment.<\/p>\n

Along with its development of a standoff strike capability, China is engaging in influence campaigns<\/a> in Southeast Asia<\/a> and the South Pacific<\/a> that could provide it with access to airfields which in turn could bring Chinese fighter aircraft closer to Australia. Such a development would fundamentally alter our strategic calculus and compound our air defence challenge.<\/p>\n

Australia is enhancing its air defences by networking<\/a> its F-35s with its Aegis-equipped Hobart-class air warfare destroyers, its yet-to-be-built Hunter-class frigates and its E-7A Wedgetail early warning aircraft. The goal is to deliver a common operating picture under a \u2018cooperative engagement capability\u2019. That will make individual ships and aircraft much more effective than the sum of their parts, an incredibly important step forward for the Australian Defence Force.<\/p>\n

An ability to counter standoff missile threats needs to be a priority, and that means detecting threats sooner and at greater range. Extending our sensor capability beyond that provided by the Jindalee Operational Radar Network to include greater use of space<\/a> systems is one option. The US has already suggested<\/a> that increased use of space-based sensors could be a way to deal with a growing hypersonic missile threat from China and Russia. Australia should seek to participate<\/a> in the development of such a capability.<\/p>\n

Air, sea and space networks must be integrated with ground forces as well. Defence\u2019s AIR 6500<\/a> project will pull together the ADF\u2019s many advanced command and control, air defence, air combat, communications and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems into an integrated air- and missile-defence network.<\/p>\n

The challenge here, though, is that phase 2 of AIR 6500 doesn\u2019t emphasise long-range missile capabilities and instead focuses on battlefield air defence and medium-range ground-based air defence. That seems to reflect a broader strategic mindset that eschews long-range military power projection and is inconsistent with emerging threat environments.<\/p>\n

Electronic warfare and cyber operations are also becoming far more important. The RAAF\u2019s E\/A-18G Growler and MC-55 Peregrine<\/a> aircraft represent significant advances for the air force\u2019s ability to detect adversary forces and disrupt their long-range targeting. The ADF needs to take this a step further and develop coordinated electronic warfare and cyber operations. It needs new and innovative methods of air defence beyond kinetic kills.<\/p>\n

The ADF is putting most of these capabilities in place but needs to consider the next steps\u2014to extend its operational reach and persistence. This is where the real problems emerge. A failure to develop a longer reach means the ADF will increasingly surrender the initiative to an adversary, particularly given emerging long-range missile threats to our northern defence facilities.<\/p>\n

Australia is beginning to suffer the effects of a failure of strategic vision by capability decision-makers in the 1990s. Their decision to invest in short-range air power instead of long-range systems has shaped force development and is now generating a mismatch between the capabilities Australia has and those it would need to fight a major war.<\/p>\n

In 2018, Paul Scharre of the Center for a New American Security told<\/a> the US House Armed Services Committee that the US Air Force was poorly placed to confront Chinese area-denial weapons and expeditionary air power, because it was \u2018still heavily weighted towards short-range tactical fighter aircraft and, under current plans, will remain so for decades to come\u2019. The same can be said for the RAAF.<\/p>\n

This oversight needs to be corrected quickly. Defence should consider increasing investment in advanced unmanned systems that can survive in contested airspace and extend the reach of existing short-range platforms. The stealthy Boeing MQ-25 Stingray<\/a>, which is being acquired for the US Navy to undertake unmanned airborne refuelling missions, could boost the F-35A\u2019s range and time on station without necessarily betraying its location like a non-stealthy aircraft, such as the RAAF\u2019s KC-30 tankers, might. Adapting Boeing Australia\u2019s loyal wingman<\/a> concept to a long-range air defence role would also be a natural step if we want to extend the RAAF\u2019s reach and enhance its responsiveness.<\/p>\n

New strategic challenges are mounting in our region. The ADF has to be able to respond to threats more quickly and at a greater distance from Australia. That means it\u2019s time to take a more ambitious look at how the ADF does air defence in the 21st century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s time for the Royal Australian Air Force to consider how it can build the capability to defend Australia against the long-range, very high-speed threats being developed in our region. The RAAF\u2019s F-35A fighters should …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":53831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,17,235,268],"class_list":["post-53828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australian-defence-force","tag-australia","tag-defence-of-australia","tag-missile"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Australia needs a long-range air defence capability | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Australia needs a long-range air defence capability | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s time for the Royal Australian Air Force to consider how it can build the capability to defend Australia against the long-range, very high-speed threats being developed in our region. The RAAF\u2019s F-35A fighters should ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-25T19:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-26T00:29:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/tomahawk2502.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"681\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Malcolm Davis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Malcolm Davis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/tomahawk2502.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/tomahawk2502.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":681},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/\",\"name\":\"Why Australia needs a long-range air defence capability | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-25T19:00:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-26T00:29:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/004d5acd1b50c90b8d3af1ddfe0146e7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Australia needs a long-range air defence capability\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/004d5acd1b50c90b8d3af1ddfe0146e7\",\"name\":\"Malcolm Davis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e30138c7970d42c9a573bddc38c3101b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e30138c7970d42c9a573bddc38c3101b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Malcolm Davis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/malcolm-davis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Australia needs a long-range air defence capability | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Australia needs a long-range air defence capability | The Strategist","og_description":"It\u2019s time for the Royal Australian Air Force to consider how it can build the capability to defend Australia against the long-range, very high-speed threats being developed in our region. The RAAF\u2019s F-35A fighters should ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2020-02-25T19:00:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-02-26T00:29:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":681,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/tomahawk2502.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Malcolm Davis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Malcolm Davis","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/tomahawk2502.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/tomahawk2502.jpg","width":1000,"height":681},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/","name":"Why Australia needs a long-range air defence capability | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2020-02-25T19:00:47+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-26T00:29:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/004d5acd1b50c90b8d3af1ddfe0146e7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-needs-a-long-range-air-defence-capability\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Australia needs a long-range air defence capability"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/004d5acd1b50c90b8d3af1ddfe0146e7","name":"Malcolm Davis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e30138c7970d42c9a573bddc38c3101b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e30138c7970d42c9a573bddc38c3101b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Malcolm Davis"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/malcolm-davis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53828"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53828"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53841,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53828\/revisions\/53841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}